# Posted by: devm@netcom.com (Dev Mannemela)
# Source: The Frontline (year 1989)

This is the introduction to an interview with Ilaiyaraaja that appeared in The Frontline in 1989. This article traces Ilaiyaraaja career and accomplishments. The actual interview is present in another article.

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Hi!

I am recycling a rather longish article I posted around four years (1989) ago. This is an article about and an interview with Ilaiyaraaja [the original musical phenomenon :-)].

Some of the info about him mentioned in this composed music for 400 movies. The count has now crossed 700, I think. That was in ~16 years!! Unbelievable..

Also it is mentioned in the article that Ilaiyaraaja has got two national awards. As an update, he got his third national award for the telugu movie "Rudra Veena" in 1989.

Ok, without any further ado, here it is....

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Ilaiyaraaja Musical Mission

Presenting the phenomenon of Ilaiyaraaja : one of the best pro-fessional composers the Indian film world has produced. The country's most prolific composer, he is extraordinarily versatile and has an unorthodox approach to music. A musician working in the cinematic medium much ahead of his time, with unusual gifts. Insights into the man and his music, with an interview by A.S.Panneerselvan.

"It is a treat to watch him working. I must say that he is the only complete music director in the film industry. He does everything - composing, orchestration, arrangement of instruments, writing notations, conducting and, in a few instances,even sound recording and balancing of tracks. He is a master composer and a brilliant orchestrator. His non- filmi album 'How to name it ' stands as a testimony for my observations."

---- Flute maestro Hari Prasad Chaurasia

"This young man has achieved a hundred times more than any one else in the profession. Only time can tell the quantum of his achievements and his contributions. To be frank, I have a lot to learn from this genius."

---- Composer Naushad

"He is as good as any top ranking composer in any part of the world. His prolificity is something phenomenal. He richly deserves both the national awards he has bagged so far."

---- Violinist L.Subramaniam

The praise showered is on the phenomenon of Ilaiyaraaja. And for those who had the opportunity to move with him closely, the admiration for the person runs ahead of that for his music.

In just over a decade, Ilaiyaraaja has scored music for more than 400 films in five languages-Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam,Kannada and Hindi. He has been commissioned to score music for the next English venture of the Metro Film Corporation. Acknowledged as one of the best professional composers India has produced, he is rated as a musician much ahead of his time. It might take some time to understand the changes he brought in tonal quality and sound quality. Says his former guru G.K.Venkatesh : "He is so modern and simultaneously ahead of his time. He is not one who loves his own creation or is spellbound by it. That is the secret of his success. An Ilaiyaraaja number is overshadowed only by another Ilaiyaraaja number"

The Ilaiyaraaja story is a story of hard and dedicated work by a man of unusual gifts. Born in the little hamlet of Pannaipuram in Madurai district, Ilaiyaraaja went to school in the nearby Kombai village. When he was in the eight standard, two astrologers, Palaniswamy and Santhanam, predicted that he would not study beyond that. In 1958, he enrolled himself in Thevaram High School for the ninth standard and felt that he had disproved the prediction. But owing to certain unforeseen circumstances, Ilaiyaraaja was forced to accompany his elder brother, Paavalar Varadarajan, a propaganda musician for the undivided CommunistParty of India, to give concerts.

This musical mission proved the predictions right. " Between 1958 and 1968 ", he recalls in his book 'Sangeetha Kanavugal'(Musical Dreams) ," we travelled all over TamilNadu. There is not a single town or village in this State which hasn't listened to our music."

In 1968, he moved to Madras along with his other elder brother Bhaskar and younger brother Gangai Amaran (who is also now a lyricist, composer and director). Despite the nagging poverty and starvation, he pursued his musical mission. He enrolled himself as a student of Western Classical music under "Master" Dhanraj. 'Master" was able immediately to spot Ilaiyaraaja's extraordinary gift and did not accept any fee from him. It was in his master's room in Luz, Madras, that he was initiated to the various nuances of classical music. "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart ,Schubert,Haydn and Brahms used to visit our lodge everyday, you know," says Ilaiyaraaja smilingly. This training made him take up an examination of the Trinity College of Music, London, in which he emerged a gold medallist in classical guitar.

Then Ilaiyaraaja joined G.K.Venkatesh as his assistant. Hisrole as an assistant was so significant that the lyricist_cum_producer Panchu Arunachalam decided to have him as the music director for "Annakkili". Ilaiyaraaja recorded six songs for that film in folk style. And the rest is cinema history.

Ilaiyaraaja's modus operandi is unique in more than one sense. He writes down the tune in the form of notations ; he doesn't hum it or play it on his harmonium.The tune seems to flow spontaneously from his head. One has not at any time seen him worked upto produce a tune. It comes so naturally and effortlessly to him that an onlooker feels that composing might be the easiest profession in the world. As he writes the tune, he writes down the orchestration to the last detail. He does not miss even a single obbligato. When he goes recording, he embellishes his work by taking on the spot decisions which are " precise and flawless."

Ilaiyaraaja approaches music in a most unorthodox manner. He is not cowed down by the dogmatic rules prescribed by self-styled guardians of "pure music ". He declares : " Music is nothing but sound and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds. " He adds : " I am not a musician. For a musician, raga is a hurdle ;tala is a hurdle; his musical training is a hurdle. Since I am not a musician, I have no parameters to restrict myself. Whatever comes to my mind, I have no hesitation in doing it. I am able to compose a song in aarohanam alone, while the whole spectrum of music vidwans believed for centuries that a song should essentially comprise aarohanam and avarohanam. This is because I have no bonds."

He is india's most prolific composer, yet there is no question of his music sounding stale or repetitive. This is a function of his extraordinary versatility. Most people in the field would acknowledge that film music has become richer after his entry. Ilaiyaraaja, who has firm roots in the soil in which he was born, has made folk music popular. The respectability he brought to the simple soul-stirring folk and tribal music is much more, in terms of both quality and quantity, than the results of several festivals put together.

Despite two ( three, now ) national awards for the best music direction and a highly acclaimed non-verbal instrumental compact disc titled " How to name it, " released internationally by Oriental Label, U.S (the first such for an Indian film composer) to his credit, little has been written about him and his music. The reason for this is Ilaiyaraaja's self-imposed exile from the media glare.

Ilaiyaraaja Musical Mission

Presenting the phenomenon of Ilaiyaraaja : one of the best pro-fessional composers the Indian film world has produced. The country's most prolific composer, he is extraordinarily versatile and has an unorthodox approach to music. A musician working in the cinematic medium much ahead of his time, with unusual gifts. Insights into the man and his music, with an interview by A.S.Panneerselvan.

"It is a treat to watch him working. I must say that he is the only complete music director in the film industry. He does everything - composing, orchestration, arrangement of instruments, writing notations, conducting and, in a few instances,even sound recording and balancing of tracks. He is a master composer and a brilliant orchestrator. His non- filmi album 'How to name it ' stands as a testimony for my observations."

---- Flute maestro Hari Prasad Chaurasia

"This young man has achieved a hundred times more than any one else in the profession. Only time can tell the quantum of his achievements and his contributions. To be frank, I have a lot to learn from this genius."

---- Composer Naushad

"He is as good as any top ranking composer in any part of the world. His prolificity is something phenomenal. He richly deserves both the national awards he has bagged so far."

---- Violinist L.Subramaniam

The praise showered is on the phenomenon of Ilaiyaraaja. And for those who had the opportunity to move with him closely, the admiration for the person runs ahead of that for his music.

In just over a decade, Ilaiyaraaja has scored music for more than 400 films in five languages-Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam,Kannada and Hindi. He has been commissioned to score music for the next English venture of the Metro Film Corporation. Acknowledged as one of the best professional composers India has produced, he is rated as a musician much ahead of his time. It might take some time to understand the changes he brought in tonal quality and sound quality. Says his former guru G.K.Venkatesh : "He is so modern and simultaneously ahead of his time. He is not one who loves his own creation or is spellbound by it. That is the secret of his success. An Ilaiyaraaja number is overshadowed only by another Ilaiyaraaja number"

The Ilaiyaraaja story is a story of hard and dedicated work by a man of unusual gifts. Born in the little hamlet of Pannaipuram in Madurai district, Ilaiyaraaja went to school in the nearby Kombai village. When he was in the eight standard, two astrologers, Palaniswamy and Santhanam, predicted that he would not study beyond that. In 1958, he enrolled himself in Thevaram High School for the ninth standard and felt that he had disproved the prediction. But owing to certain unforeseen circumstances, Ilaiyaraaja was forced to accompany his elder brother, Paavalar Varadarajan, a propaganda musician for the undivided CommunistParty of India, to give concerts.

This musical mission proved the predictions right. " Between 1958 and 1968 ", he recalls in his book 'Sangeetha Kanavugal'(Musical Dreams) ," we travelled all over TamilNadu. There is not a single town or village in this State which hasn't listened to our music."

In 1968, he moved to Madras along with his other elder brother Bhaskar and younger brother Gangai Amaran (who is also now a lyricist, composer and director). Despite the nagging poverty and starvation, he pursued his musical mission. He enrolled himself as a student of Western Classical music under "Master" Dhanraj. 'Master" was able immediately to spot Ilaiyaraaja's extraordinary gift and did not accept any fee from him. It was in his master's room in Luz, Madras, that he was initiated to the various nuances of classical music. "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart ,Schubert,Haydn and Brahms used to visit our lodge everyday, you know," says Ilaiyaraaja smilingly. This training made him take up an examination of the Trinity College of Music, London, in which he emerged a gold medallist in classical guitar.

Then Ilaiyaraaja joined G.K.Venkatesh as his assistant. Hisrole as an assistant was so significant that the lyricist_cum_producer Panchu Arunachalam decided to have him as the music director for "Annakkili". Ilaiyaraaja recorded six songs for that film in folk style. And the rest is cinema history.

Ilaiyaraaja's modus operandi is unique in more than one sense. He writes down the tune in the form of notations ; he doesn't hum it or play it on his harmonium.The tune seems to flow spontaneously from his head. One has not at any time seen him worked upto produce a tune. It comes so naturally and effortlessly to him that an onlooker feels that composing might be the easiest profession in the world. As he writes the tune, he writes down the orchestration to the last detail. He does not miss even a single obbligato. When he goes recording, he embellishes his work by taking on the spot decisions which are " precise and flawless."

Ilaiyaraaja approaches music in a most unorthodox manner. He is not cowed down by the dogmatic rules prescribed by self-styled guardians of "pure music ". He declares : " Music is nothing but sound and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds. " He adds : " I am not a musician. For a musician, raga is a hurdle ;tala is a hurdle; his musical training is a hurdle. Since I am not a musician, I have no parameters to restrict myself. Whatever comes to my mind, I have no hesitation in doing it. I am able to compose a song in aarohanam alone, while the whole spectrum of music vidwans believed for centuries that a song should essentially comprise aarohanam and avarohanam. This is because I have no bonds."

He is india's most prolific composer, yet there is no question of his music sounding stale or repetitive. This is a function of his extraordinary versatility. Most people in the field would acknowledge that film music has become richer after his entry. Ilaiyaraaja, who has firm roots in the soil in which he was born, has made folk music popular. The respectability he brought to the simple soul-stirring folk and tribal music is much more, in terms of both quality and quantity, than the results of several festivals put together.

Despite two ( three, now ) national awards for the best music direction and a highly acclaimed non-verbal instrumental compact disc titled " How to name it, " released internationally by Oriental Label, U.S (the first such for an Indian film composer) to his credit, little has been written about him and his music. The reason for this is Ilaiyaraaja's self-imposed exile from the media glare.